BMC Consolidates Mainframe Storage Software

BMC to consolidate its mainframe storage resource management software from eight different applications to four.

BMC Software Inc. on Monday will announce a consolidation of its mainframe storage resource management software from eight different applications to four, officials said Friday.
The move is being done to simplify the catalog and to distinguish it from BMCs former Patrol Storage Manager for distributed systems, which was sold to Hopkinton, Mass.s EMC Corp., noted Jonathan Adams, director, Mainview performance and optimization.
The newly condensed applications are called Mainview SRM 7.2 and include Mainview SRM Allocation, Mainview SRM Reporting and Mainview SRM Automation, Adams said, in Houston. Another product, Mainview SRM StopX37II, is still available separately. All are part of BMCs Business Service Management strategy, he said.

The allocation tool helps with capacity management, combining the former tools called EasyPool and EasySMS, along with StopX37/II. The latter attempts to anticipate capacity shortages, Adams said.

The reporting tool monitors, analyzes and automates management tasks, optimizes RAID systems, and has alarms. It combines the former StorageGuard, SG-Control, and EasyHSM tools, he said.
The automation helps users manage OS/390 and z/OS mainframe storage from one location and helps manage mainframe aspects such as DFSMS and RAID devices, by combining the Enterprise Storage Automation and AutoOperator programs, he said.
All of the software is available now. Mainview for two-way mainframes starts at $53,000 for SRM Reporting tool, $67,800 for SRM Automation, and $65,200 for SRM Allocation. The prices for eight-way systems are $479,100, $612,800 and $589, 300.
Mainview SRM 7.3, a year away, will include more kinds of reports, real-time hierarchical storage management, and integration with third-party automation products, Adams added.
Unlike in the open systems side, BMC is "absolutely not" exiting mainframe storage software, he said.
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